The Pittsburgh Press (February 9, 1942)
Jap plane carrier seen off Australia
Melbourne, Feb. 9 (UP) –
Authorized dispatches reported today that a Japanese aircraft carrier had been sighted some hundreds of miles north of Darwin, the chief army and air base on the northern Australian coast, and was moving toward the port.
Darwin had a three-hour air raid alarm yesterday, its third of the war, and fighter planes went up in search of raiders. They returned in 90 minutes without sighting any Japanese planes.
Dispatches said that Darwin greeted the wailing of air raid sirens, and the indication of a Japanese attack, with enthusiasm rather than anxiety. The fighter planes were cheered when they went up.
Japanese planes also ranged during the weekend over the Solomon Islands northeast of Australia across the Coral Sea, and bombs were dropped at Samarai, in the Papuan area of New Guinea.